Dutee Chand eyes final at World Championship after seeking blessings from Puri temple

New Delhi, Aug 3: Dutee Chand had doubts about her chances of making it to the upcoming World Championship despite winning bronze medal in the recently concluded Asian Athletics championship in Bhubaneswar.

She clocked 11.59 seconds to win a bronze in the 100 meters after two Kazakhstan sprinters won gold and silver.

Within a couple of hours after the completion of her race, Dutee came to know through the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) top bosses that her name has been included in the 56 entries.

These 56 athletes had finished closer to the qualification time needed for World Championships.

Dutee clocked 11.30 seconds to win the silver medal in the Indian Grand Prix in May and the 11.26 seconds are the qualification time for the participation in World Championship.

Dutee, before her departure for London said, "My aim is to reach the final round of the World Championship."

Elated with her selection, the sprinter along with her coach Ramesh Nagapuram rushed to Puri temple from Bhubaneswar to take blessings of Lord Jagannath.

Dutee has already started practicing in London. Her event (100 meters heat) is scheduled to be held on Saturday (August 5). Her coach Ramesh, who has not yet received invitation from the organizers of World Championship, said over phone from Hyderabad on Wednesday, "Since Dutee's arrival in London on Monday, I have been speaking with her for almost every alternative hours.

"Interestingly, the chief priest of Puri temple blessed Dutee and me saying that despite not being able to clock the World Championship qualification time she got the rare opportunity to take part in such a major tournament like World Championship and it was the best blessing she has already received," he added further.

Ramesh also recalled the appreciation and encouragement from Dutee's famous German consultant Ralf Ekhert. The renowned German coach is presently in charge of developing sprint programmes in ten countries all around the world following initiative taken by International Athletics Federation.

Ekhert had called up the 21-year old sprinter and said, "It might be possible for you to qualify for the final round of the 100 meters in the World Championship. You will have to become mentally relaxed before the event."

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